BUTLER TWP — Inserting Dan Bylsma behind the bench as head coach is what changed the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.

Well, maybe.

The change of a hat might have trumped the change of the coach.

Bryce Cunningham, an 11-year-old Butler Township boy who had a rare cancerous mole removed in 2006 and received interferon intravenously five days a week for nearly a year, was set to present a new Penguins baseball cap to Sidney Crosby.

The presentation was to be made at the annual Pens & Pins charity bowling event Feb. 12 at Crafton-Ingram Bowling Lanes. Cunningham bowled in that event through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"I saw on TV, when (Crosby) was doing an interview, that he needed a new hat," Bryce said. "The one he was wearing had sweat all around it. It was all dirty and everything."

Crosby is Bryce's favorite Penguin. He's been a fan of the team for as long as he can remember.

His older brother, 16-year-old Mitchell, is trying out for Butler's varsity hockey team this week. Another older brother, 13-year-old Aaron, played hockey as well, but now is playing junior high lacrosse.

"We've been hockey crazed for a long time," said Bryce's mother, Gloria Cunningham. "Watching the game Wednesday night (a 3-2 overtime win) had all of us biting nails."

Bryce had his father Don pick up the new hat for Crosby. The cap has the word "Bryce" stitched on one side and "Make-A-Wish" stitched on the other.

Bryce brought the hat with him to the bowling event, only Crosby was a no show.

"He was the only player not there," Gloria Cunningham said. "He had strep throat."

The cap was given to FSN broadcaster Dan Potash, who was the master of ceremonies at the event, to pass on to Crosby.

"We really didn't expect him to wear it on TV," Gloria Cunningham said. "Players are superstitious about things like that and our understanding was that (Crosby) wears one hat all year."

This time, Crosby changed caps. The Penguins went 18-3-4 under Bylsma down the stretch, then beat Philadelphia in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

New coach or new cap?

Crosby told NHL.com that this gift was different from others he's received from fans.

"Usually, I just have a hat a year kind of thing and stick with it," he said. "Then he gave me this one and said the other one was a little too dirty, so I switched it up. We started to win some games and it worked out pretty good.

"I don't usually switch things up, but I really appreciated it. I've gotten a few hats over the course of a few years, but, for whatever reason, I just thought it was the right thing to do."

Bryce has been cancer free for two years. His mother gives him three shots of interferon a week.

"Chemotherapy doesn't work for skin cancer. This is the only treatment that does," she said. "Bryce still has his bloodwork checked and he gets an X-ray once a year, but, so far, everything's good."

Including Crosby's hat.

"I'm still wishing for a chance to meet him, just to see him in person," Bryce said of Crosby. "I've only seen him on TV."

Bryce scored plenty of goals himself during three years of playing dek hockey and has found the net a few times for his grade school lacrosse team this year.

But his favorite hat trick is the one sitting on Crosby's head during playoff game interviews.

"It's pretty cool, seeing it all the time now," he said.